Age restricted sales

Legislation restricts the sale of certain products to anyone below specific age limits.

If an age restricted product is sold to someone under the legal age limit, both the retailer and the person who sold the product can be found guilty of an offence.

Trading Standards enforces the law on:

tobacco and tobacco products

butane gas lighter refills

fireworks

spray paint devices

DVDs

computer games

sunbed hire

Police Scotland enforces the law on alcohol and weapons. Selling alcohol to under 18’s may also put your licence to sell alcohol at risk.

For more information, click on the boxes below.

Restricted products with a 16 age limit

The following goods must not be supplied to anyone under 16 years of age:

National lottery tickets

Cracker snaps

Caps

Novelty matches

Party poppers

Serpents

Throw downs

Aerosol spray paints

Petroleum spirit

Liqueur chocolates

Restricted products with an 18 age limit

The following must not be supplied to anyone under 18 years of age:

Tobacco

Tobacco products e.g. cigarette papers

Knives

Fireworks

Solvents

Butane Gas

Alcohol

Sunbed hire

Restriction on films, TV programmes, video games etc.

The Video Recordings Act 1984 requires all ‘video works’ (films, TV programmes, video games, etc) which are supplied on a disc, tape or any other device capable of storing data electronically to be classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), unless they fall within the definition of an exempted work.

Enforcement

We provide advice and education to traders and consumers, including parents, teachers and young people.

We investigate complaints made by consumers or traders.

We use young volunteers, in appropriate cases, to attempt to buy age restricted products. They behave as ordinary customers, under the supervision of a Trading Standards enforcement officer. Strict government guidelines ensure that the exercise is fair and safe. If a sale takes place, legal proceedings may commence.

Penalties

Trading standards enforcement officers can issue fixed penalty notices for offences, including selling tobacco to under-18s, or not being on the tobacco retailers register.

The level of fixed penalty notice is £200 plus an escalator of £200 for every additional offence committed in a two year period. Offences can be reported to the Procurator Fiscal where heavier fines can be imposed.

If a retailer has been found to be in breach of tobacco sales legislation three times within a two year period (either through a fixed penalty notice or a criminal conviction) a local authority can apply to the courts to have the retailer banned from selling tobacco. A court can ban a retailer from selling tobacco for up to a year.

If you have information about a retailer in Fife selling an age restricted product to a person under the legal age, please report it to us via our Trading Standards reporting form for further investigation. This can be done anonymously.

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